Slow Firewood Year...?

[Jules083]

Never heard of wood auctions. How does that work, where are they held?

It's not exactly a wood auction, but there's wood there.

We have a local livestock auction place that also auctions off about anything you want to get rid of. There's a section where they auction hay off, and right before that they do wood and fenceposts if anyone brought any. Normally there are 3 to 5 piles of wood in the winter, and sometimes there's a load of homemade fence posts.

I try to go there every week, sometimes there is something good that can be had cheap. In the morning they do miscellaneous stuff, which is normally things like calf feeders, lawnmowers, maybe a chainsaw or two, chains, tools, etc. Around 10 they start food, which is mostly eggs from farmers, homemade bread from the amish, produce in the summer. After that they do firewood, feed, and hay. 2:00 starts the livestock. I've bought a few goats from there, 4 cows, and a donkey. One day I might buy a pig to take to slaughter, but I don't really have a place to keep him so I'd have to go straight to the slaughterhouse.

It's a pretty good place, there's a restaurant upstairs and occasionally they hold special auctions. First friday of the month is horses, the monday before easter is the big goat/sheep/pig auction, stuff like that.

 

[zogger]

It's not exactly a wood auction, but there's wood there.

We have a local livestock auction place that also auctions off about anything you want to get rid of. There's a section where they auction hay off, and right before that they do wood and fenceposts if anyone brought any. Normally there are 3 to 5 piles of wood in the winter, and sometimes there's a load of homemade fence posts.

I try to go there every week, sometimes there is something good that can be had cheap. In the morning they do miscellaneous stuff, which is normally things like calf feeders, lawnmowers, maybe a chainsaw or two, chains, tools, etc. Around 10 they start food, which is mostly eggs from farmers, homemade bread from the amish, produce in the summer. After that they do firewood, feed, and hay. 2:00 starts the livestock. I've bought a few goats from there, 4 cows, and a donkey. One day I might buy a pig to take to slaughter, but I don't really have a place to keep him so I'd have to go straight to the slaughterhouse.

It's a pretty good place, there's a restaurant upstairs and occasionally they hold special auctions. First friday of the month is horses, the monday before easter is the big goat/sheep/pig auction, stuff like that.

--thanks for the info, sounds interesting!

 

[D&B Mack]

After that they do firewood, feed, and hay. 2:00 starts the livestock. I've bought a few goats from there, 4 cows, and a donkey. One day I might buy a pig to take to slaughter, but I don't really have a place to keep him so I'd have to go straight to the slaughterhouse.

What does Donkey taste like?

 

[Jules083]

What does Donkey taste like?

:msp_biggrin:

Donkey's are good to keep around, they are very protective of their areas. We have coyote's around here, and a hungry coyote will bring down a goat. Donkey's will attack coyotes

 

[ShaneLogs]

:msp_biggrin:

Donkey's are good to keep around, they are very protective of their areas. We have coyote's around here, and a hungry coyote will bring down a goat. Donkey's will attack coyotes

Wow! I bet that is a sight to see.

 

[allagashwoods]

slow wood sales

Hi, it's very slow here in Ct. Last year we sold 80 cords of green wood, this year less than half of that. I got my kiln up and running in the spring and was all set to make millions in the kiln dried market, I took all my money that I normally buy next's year's firewood and used that to buy the kiln, now I don't have any wood to process for next season and I don't have any kiln dried customers to speak of.YIKES, don't I feel a tad silly, I heard someone had some beach front property for sale in Idaho, sounds like my next great investment.
Len

 

[wdchuck]

Even with the nice rain that is falling this evening, it will still take some time for the ground cover to go from dormant-dry to moisture containing green. Burn ban will likely still be on for another couple weeks.

 

[zogger]

Hi, it's very slow here in Ct. Last year we sold 80 cords of green wood, this year less than half of that. I got my kiln up and running in the spring and was all set to make millions in the kiln dried market, I took all my money that I normally buy next's year's firewood and used that to buy the kiln, now I don't have any wood to process for next season and I don't have any kiln dried customers to speak of.YIKES, don't I feel a tad silly, I heard someone had some beach front property for sale in Idaho, sounds like my next great investment.
Len

--ya, but you got a kiln! This is major league cool gear! You just need to go hustle some wood now, same as most of the guys on this forum. I'd be knocking on farmers doors, posting ads at the farm stores, etc. See if any of them got any problem trrees they need to get rid of, fencelines cleaned/cleared, etc. Heck, you might could get paid to cut and haul away wood!

 

[ponyexpress976]

Slow here in PA as well. I've sold a few cords of green here and there. By the looks of it, everyone still has a good supply left over from the previous year. The October snow storm last year made a huge supply available and we've been having some real ripper thunderstorms to keep everyone well stocked.

 

[fearofpavement]

Hi, it's very slow here in Ct. Last year we sold 80 cords of green wood, this year less than half of that. I got my kiln up and running in the spring and was all set to make millions in the kiln dried market, I took all my money that I normally buy next's year's firewood and used that to buy the kiln, now I don't have any wood to process for next season and I don't have any kiln dried customers to speak of.YIKES, don't I feel a tad silly, I heard someone had some beach front property for sale in Idaho, sounds like my next great investment.
Len

If you have a way to haul it and a flexible schedule, check with some tree services. Usually they sell wood too but often, getting it off the site in a hurry is imperative. If you can show up while they are doing a job and haul off what they can't chip, it may benefit both of you. They may even load it in your vehicle if they have equipment on site. Once you have a relationship with a company they may throw the wood in a pile and let you take it later in the day or even the next day if you do the final clean-up but probably they would like it gone while they are still there. I have a friend that has some acreage and a tree service regularly dumps loads of chips and logs (mixed) just to get rid of it. He composts the chips for his garden and cuts the logs into firewood.

 

[Wood Doctor]

BBQ Cookin' Wood

The bundle business is down about 40% for me right now. Hot summer is keeping some people from sitting by the campfire. Plus, disposable income is down as well. Hopefully, the temps drop coming into August and get some more campers out there. Otherwise, may be selling bulk wood for the winter.

I decided to try another bundle angle, "BBQ Cookin' Wood". What I do is split oak, apple, and locust logs down a little further than normal campfire wood. Then cut the split logs in half to about 8" lengths. Now pack about 15 lb of the short logs into a plastic bag that I usually double up for more strength. It takes about a dozen or so logs to reach 15 lb, depending on how far you split them down and the moisture content.

Sell these bags for about $1 less than a campfire bundle. I find these logs are just right for smokin' meat and other BBQ cooking in a barrel or kettle cooker and are less than half the price of charcoal. So far, I have no complaints, and even slightly green logs are sometimes preferred over dead-dry hardwood. The denser, the better, and many BBQ enthusiasts love to mix them with charcoal as they cook for extra flavor.

 

[qweesdraw]

I am only down 97% in bundle wood,fire bans are kickin' my butt!
We have had rain grass is green but still fire bans.
Log furniture /CL steals have kept me going.
Hope we have a COLD snowy winter,i still have some of last years wood that hasn't sold.
(it will rot before i whore it for a lesser price).
Mark